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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26604169">Postcards from Spain</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rumaan/pseuds/Rumaan'>Rumaan</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>SKAM (Spain)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Teen Romance</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 04:09:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,700</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26604169</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rumaan/pseuds/Rumaan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of short stories from Skam Spain</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Amira Naybet/Daniel "Dani" Soto Peña</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>91</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Dani confronts Cris about her reaction to the news of him and Amira dating</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Cris stomped into the house, her face like thunder as she slammed her bag onto the floor by the sofa.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t you have a laptop in there?” Dani asked, amused by his sister’s histrionics.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>However, instead of flipping him off and making a snarky comment, she shot him a dark glare and left without a response which was the most un-Cris thing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His heart sank as he contemplated why she wouldn’t even answer him. She’d been on edge since Joanna had gone into hospital but that was more looking for any way to distract herself than ignoring him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Amira had to have told her the news. Grabbing his phone out of his pocket, he texted his girlfriend. A sappy smile spread across his face as he thought the term. His </span>
  <em>
    <span>girlfriend</span>
  </em>
  <span>. It still felt unreal to refer to Amira like that. He had never thought she could ever be interested in him. Why would she when she had the world at her fingertips? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Ami, did you talk to Cris? </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Yep</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>And?</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He grimaced at the thumbs down emoji she sent back. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Fuck! What I thought </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>She has a long face on </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>She thinks we’re going to get overwhelmed </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Annoyance swept through his system when he read Amira’s response. Who the fuck was Cris to think they would get overwhelmed? His sister could have no faith in him - after all, she’d heard him say some truly dumb shit when talking to their older brothers. But Amira? </span>
  <em>
    <span>Amira</span>
  </em>
  <span>? The girl who had her head fixed on so straight that she was used by all the parents in the area as the standard they judged their own kids on. Even after she had started wearing hijab and his parents and their friends bigoted views surfaced. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Eh</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Don’t fucking listen to her, okay? I’ll talk to her</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I don’t know if it will be of use...but thanks :) :*</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His heart stopped at the use of the kiss. God, he wanted to kiss her for real so badly. When she touched his hand the other day he still wasn’t sure just how he’d stopped himself from grabbing her and hugging her. But there was no way he would step over the boundaries she had set. So he settled for sending her electronic kisses.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>:*</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>--------</p>
<p>
  <span>Dani knocked on Cris’ door. And again a few seconds later when she ignored it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I know you’re in there so stop trying to act like you don’t hear me knocking.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He heard the huff through the wood.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Maybe you should take a hint and walk away.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I asked Amira. I know you’re mad so you might as well say what you want to say.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The words had barely left his mouth when the door whipped open and he was greeted with Cris’ scowling face.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You willing to hear it from me or are you going to continue having a tantrum?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“This should be good,” was all she said, rolling her eyes and folding her arms.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ami said she told you and that you think we’ll be overwhelmed,” he said. “What does that even mean?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“C’mon, are you deliberately playing dumb?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No. I genuinely want to know what you mean.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She shook her head and let out a disdainful snort. “Like you and Amira? You and Amira </span>
  <em>
    <span>dating</span>
  </em>
  <span>? That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dani felt his temper rising and drew in a deep breath to tamp it down. Flying off the handle might have been the most Soto response ever but it wasn’t going to get him anywhere.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why is Amira being my girlfriend the dumbest thing?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Cris looked at him in disbelief. “Well ignoring the fact that you were making out with one of my other friends a couple of weeks ago, you and Amira don’t even make any sense. She’s not had a boyfriend since she started wearing hijab - not even appeared interested in a guy and then suddenly you and her are dating.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, we are,” he said. “I’ve liked her for ages now and I didn’t think anything could happen - hence the dumb behaviour the other week - but then she let slip that she likes me too so why wouldn’t we date? That’s what people do when they like each other.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, maybe if they have things in common. What are you two even going to talk about? Her going to the mosque whilst you go out drinking?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ooh so that’s it. I thought you might be mad that we didn’t tell you together or as soon as it happened but you’re really bringing up that she’s muslim and I’m not?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Duh Dani! It’s a pretty big thing don’t you think? How are you even going to work? She’s going to want to change you because there’s no way she’s going to want to date a guy who gets wasted every weekend. And don’t even get me started on how this even works! Can you kiss? I know she won’t have sex outside marriage. How are you even going to cope with those kinds of restrictions? It's not fair on you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So that’s what you mean by overwhelmed,” he said with a huff of biting laughter. “Wow, I thought if there was anyone who would get this then it would be you. After all, you’ve been friends with Amira pretty much your whole life and you get just how amazing she is. But apparently you don’t. You can’t see past her hijab. I expect that from mum or random friends but from</span>
  <em>
    <span> you</span>
  </em>
  <span>? Nah, I didn’t expect that.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A look of shame passed over her face for a moment as she dropped her eyes down to the floor.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s not that. You know I love Amy.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Do you? Because it doesn’t look like that from here.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m just trying to look out for you. I don’t want to see either of you hurt. You’re both caught up in giddy excitement of getting together but I don’t think you’ve even thought this through.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dani shook his head in disappointment. “This is Amira we’re talking about. You think she let either of us go into this blind? That we didn’t talk about expectations and boundaries and what it means to date a religious Muslim girl?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Cris looked up at him in surprise. “You did?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course we did. I’ve gone into this with my eyes wide open. I know what the limitations are because she laid them out to me so I don’t have any misconceptions. She made herself vulnerable because she didn’t want me to feel blindsided by what dating her means. And I am fine with them because Ami is worth it. However, I’m not fine with you acting like she’s going to try and turn me into something I’m not solely because she’s muslim. She’s been totally honest with me and she expected me to walk away. But I’m not that much of an idiot. She’s given me a chance and I’m going to take it. ”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What about when this goes wrong? You’ve known each other since we were kids - how are you going to get that back?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wow - when and not if. For someone who used to joke that I would marry Amira, you sure show a big lack of faith in either of us.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t want things to change. I don’t want my best friend and my brother messing everything up.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But that’s not your decision to make,” he pointed out gently. “Are we meant to deny our feelings to make you comfortable?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No!” She objected. “I didn’t mean it like that.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How did you mean it then?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Cris pulled at her braid and bit at the corner of her mouth. “I just…” she trailed off for half a second before pulling in a deep breath. “It’s hard, you know, to make a relationship work. Not to make this all about me-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“For once,” he couldn’t help but interrupt to get the dig in.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Shut up,” she said, whacking him hard on the arm with the first smile he’d seen from her that afternoon. “Things with Joanna are harder than I thought they would be and it’s not because she’s not great because she is. I wouldn’t change her for the world. But it’s hard. I worry about her and I can’t text her about it because it doesn’t help her get any better and I end up trying to distract myself from the anxiety and then we fight about how much I drink and I just…I don’t want that for you and Amy.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dani put his arm around her. “Hey, she’s going to get better. And she’s going to get released.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But she’s not going to graduate this year,” Cris said, her voice wobbling.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I know.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She wiped the tears from her eyes and took a shaky breath. “You and Amira really talked about how you can date?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yep,” he said proudly. “I mean I wish I could say I’d instigated it but you’d know that’s a lie.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She laughed. “Yeah, Amira definitely holds the brain cell in this relationship.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dani’s heart pounded as he contemplated telling Cris what he had shared with no one else. Not even Amira. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ve kind of been watching videos.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I do not want to know what kinky porn you’ve been watching!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No, stupid. Videos about Islam.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Cris’ eyes bugged out of her head in a way that would have made him call her froggy if he wasn’t so nervous about what she would say.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh shit!” She exclaimed and then she burst into laughter. “Mum is going to </span>
  <em>
    <span>freak</span>
  </em>
  <span>!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What am I going to freak out about?” Their mum asked with the worst timing possible.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dani and Cris looked at each other. There was no way either of them wanted to touch this conversation right now. Not when she was bisexual and he was thinking about becoming Muslim. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I left my rugby boots in my bag overnight.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Dani!” His mum said. “The smell is never going to leave.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Dumbass!” Cris mocked as she mimed wiping a hand across her brow behind their mum’s back. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Five minutes later, once his mum stopped lamenting over smelly gym bags, he texted Cris.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>You better phone her and grovel.</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Ruben</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Dani takes Amira to meet his friends...</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Oh God, Ruben is coming back and I hate him because he's a dick and he's going to be a dick to Amira. So I'm preempting the scene and writing what I want to happen before we see what actually happens.</p>
<p>I couldn't remember how Patri was spelt and a brief google search only came up with Patricia so I went with that. Please excuse me if its wrong.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“I thought you were kidding,” Ruben said with a confused smile on his face. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“About what?” Dani asked. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He wasn’t stupid. He knew exactly Ruben was talking about but he was going to actually make him say it out loud. And then try to stop himself from punching his friend out because he’d been keeping his temper on a leash since the moment Amira had walked into the bar and Ruben had leaned over to greet her with a kiss and then huffed incredulously when Amira had stepped back with an embarrassed smile and explained that she didn’t have physical contact with men.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Whatever the hell this is? Like you're dating that headscarf chick for real?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dani was at least grateful that Ruben had waited until Amira had gone outside to answer a phone call before spouting off. That showed some actual tact for his friend. Only the bare minimum mind you. Although how long he remained his friend depended on how this conversation continued.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Her name is Amira.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Whatever, bro.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No, not whatever. Say it. A-Mi-Ra. It’s not hard.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ruben rolled his eyes and cocked his thumb in Dani’s direction and said to Patricia. “Can you believe this guy?!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Patri shook her head. “Don’t even drag me into this.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Say it!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Fine, fine. Just chill, bro. Amira.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Releasing a deep breath, he unclenched his fist. He had wanted tonight to go so well. It wasn’t like he didn’t know Ruben could be a dick - he did. But he’d thought his friend would at least rein in it a little tonight. Especially after the conversation they’d had last year when Dani had confronted him over his behaviour with Cris. Things had cooled between them for a while but Ruben had been calling more and wanting to hang out.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So you’re with her to pop her cherry, right? I’ve always wondered what it would be like to fuck a Muslim chick. I bet they are kinky under all that cloth.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A second was all it took for his first to clench and him to punch Ruben in the face. Hard.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What the </span>
  <em>
    <span>fuck</span>
  </em>
  <span>!” Ruben exclaimed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He raised his hand again but Patricia was quicker this time and grabbed his arm. “He’s been watching that stupid </span>
  <em>
    <span>Elite</span>
  </em>
  <span> show. Ignore him and get out of here with your girl. The bouncers are coming over.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dani looked behind him and sure enough two burly security guards were making their way over. “Shit!” he said, flexing his sore knuckles. “See you later, Patri. You.” He said pointing at Ruben. “Don’t bother calling me again.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And he meant it. He was done with Ruben and how gross he continually was. It was time to realise that he wasn’t going to grow up and mature out of his douchebro mindset. He was going to get old and turn into Dani’s dad. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He bumped into Amira as he was leaving and she was coming back in.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Let’s get out of here,” he said, giving her the soft smile that always emerged whenever he was around her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But we haven’t been here long. You sure you want to leave?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, this is a shitty place to bring you anyway. Especially during Ramadan.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A look of gratefulness flashed over her face before she was able to mask it and he felt guilty for even suggesting a bar. He had to step his game up. Stop thinking about what he was used to doing with his friends and about where he should be taking Amira so she was happy and comfortable.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I know you ate earlier with your parents but I wondered if you wanted to go and grab something sweet to eat. I know the sugar cravings kick in during Ramadan.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, they do and that sounds amazing.” Her face puckered up into a puzzled look. “How do you know that?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Shit! He forgot that he read that earlier in the week online. He wasn’t sure why but he still hadn’t told Amira that he was looking into Islam. Watching videos and reading about converts and their stories about how they came to Islam. He didn’t want her to get anxious that maybe he was doing this solely for her. He also didn’t want to heap any pressure on them - they’d only been dating for just over a week. What happened if she got excited about it and then he realised he didn’t want to convert? No, it would be better to just keep quiet for now. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, one of the kids mentioned it at rugby training. Is there anywhere you want to go in particular?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She bit her lip and her hands twisted around each other nervously. He wanted to cover them with his own and reassure her that she didn’t need to be worried. That she could say where she wanted to go and it would be fine with him. It wasn’t just about what he was comfortable with. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Can we go to this Moroccan place? In Ramadan, I always want Moroccan sweets and I could murder a cup of mint tea round about.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Is it as good as Aunty Aicha’s tea?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Weeeelll, nothing is as good as my mum’s tea but its the best that you will get at a restaurant.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m in,” he said, loving the big smile on her face. That he put it there made the butterflies in his stomach flutter around. “Tell me what sweets we should order. I want to try them.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her nose scrunched up the way it did when she was happy and he realised just how much she did things that he or Cris wanted to do and always had.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The big one is </span>
  <em>
    <span>chebakia</span>
  </em>
  <span> but there is also </span>
  <em>
    <span>makrut</span>
  </em>
  <span> or almond paste stuffed dates or </span>
  <em>
    <span>sfouf</span>
  </em>
  <span>. There’s so many. Be prepared. Your sweet tooth is about to be indulged big time.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He grinned, loving this little moment way more than the awkward hour before with Ruben. “Bring it on, Naybet. The Soto Pena sweet tooth is legendary.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>These will be added to when and where I get inspiration. You can find me on <a href="https://rumaan.tumblr.com/">tumblr</a> if you so wish</p></blockquote></div></div>
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